Powder propeller



Nov. 28, 1939. 6.1. RIGOR POWDER iROPELLER Filed Oct. 23, 1936 l u E M l 2 2 Z E W w q Patented Nov. 28, 1939 UNITED STATE POWDER PROPELLER Guy L. Rigor, Oswego, N. Y., assignor to ,St. Regis Paper 'Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New'York Application October 23, 1936, Serial No. 102,283

3 Claims.

a compact stream, suitable for filling into a valve bag or the like.

The invention has as an object to provide apparatus which will discharge powdered material in compact form, provide for the escape of air caught in the powder, furnish relief against excess pressure, discharge cleanly and completely a preformed charge dropped therein, and accomplish these objects with a simple mechanism requiring a minimum outlay in construction and upkeep.

Other objects and details of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Fig. l is a vertical section of apparatus embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the apparatus as viewed from the left of Fig. l.

In the construction shown, there is a hopper I0 for supplying the material to be discharged. The hopper narrows to a rounded bottom H in which there works a screw l2 on the end of a shaft [3 which is journaled in a bearing M in a housing If: at one side of the hopper. The shaft may be driven by any desired means, not shown.

The side of hopper l8 cooperates with housing !5 to provide a circular discharge chamber Iii into which the screw forces the material centrally. On the outer side of the chamber Hi there is a circular recess l'l. Mounted on the shaft l3 within the discharge chamber is a hub i8 having its inner face is curving outward into a flange 20 that runs freely in recess H. The end 2| of shaft l3 which bears the hub is reduced in diameter, 22 between the hub and the end of the full-sized shaft. The surface 23 is rounded from annular space 22 to the disc-like flange 283.

A series of blades 24 extend outward from hub l8 and act as a centrifugal propeller, forcing the. material to rotate rapidly in chamber I6. The lower side of chamber It extends below the bottom ll of hopper ill, and the extended side 25 of the hopper cooperates with the housing I5 to make a groove 26 of the outer part of the chamber I6, beginning at 21, near the top of the chamber, and extending around the bottom half of the chamber to the full depth of the large ends 28 of blades 24.

Tangentially from the lower part of chamber I6 there extends a discharge spout 29 which is adapted to enter and discharge material into a valve bag. If desired, the discharge spout may and leaves therearound an annular space be provided-with a gate, not shown, for closing it at intervals.

The ends 28 of blades 2i approach quite closely to the walls of groove 26, but the upper wall of chamber i6 is cut away from a point 38 a short 5 distance above the discharge spout to point 3i approximately diametrically. opposite.

In operation, a valve bag is placed upon spout 29 and a charge of material is dropped into the hopper. The charge may be suitably measured or preweighed, or may be merely provided in ample quantity where the spout is mounted upon a suitable weighing means in a known manner. Screw l2, revolving in the direction of arrow 32, drives the material against hub surface i9 which spreads it out between blades 24. The propeller blades sweep it around groove 26 and discharge it through spout 29. During the movement of the material around the groove, it is pressed outward by centrifugal force and compacted, entrapped air escaping towards the center of the propeller.

Disc 20 tends to prevent any of the material from entering space 22, but if any does so enter, it is thrown back out, along surface 23, by centrifugal force, so that the shaft continues to run freely in its bearing. The force the screw exerts against the material is passed on to the hub and disc, so that the endwise forces approximately balance each other.

If material cannot escape through the discharge spout as fast as it is presented thereto, it is swept on around against the outer wall of the discharge chamber, and the pressure thereon is relieved by the cut-away upper wall of the chamber and the open side 33 of the chamber back into the hopper at the top of the chamber.

Where the charge is pre-measured or weighed, the entire charge is swept cleanly from the hopper and chamber, since no place for lodgement is left.

It will be seen that an apparatus has been provided which will discharge powdered or granular material in compact form, and will be swept clean of each successive charge when it is operated with pro-measured or weighed charges. Also the construction is simple, easy of access, and the only bearings necessary are easily kept free from dust. Ample pressure may be exerted upon the material to produce a compact and rapid discharge, while at the same time relief is provided which avoids excessive packing and clogging. Only one form of the invention has been shown and described, but it will be understood that modifications in details, proportions, and operating parts 55 may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising a hopper having an approximately semicylindrical bottom, a screw fitting in said bottom, a cylindrical housing at one side of the hopper at one end of the screw, of larger diameter than the screw and extending both below the lowest level of the screw and above the highest level of the screw, a centrifugal propeller in said housing and a discharge spout from the housing, the side of the hopper at the end of the screw and thereabove being open into the housing.

2. Apparatus for discharging material comprising a hopper having a substantially semi-cylindrical bottom, sides sloping downward to the sides of said bottom, a circular housing at one end of, concentric with, and of larger diameter than said bottom, the end of the hopper being open into said housing so far as they are co-extensive, and a groove being formed in the housing where it extends beyond said bottom and sides of the hopper, a discharge spout from the bottom of said groove and adapted to enter and discharge into a valve bag, a centrifugal propeller in said housing, the propeller comprising a hub curving into a disc and blades, a screw fitting in the bottom of the hopper, a shaft journaled outside the housing and extending within and carrying the propeller and screw, said disc fitting within an annular recess in the housing wall and the lower wall of the housing lying closely adjacent the path of the propeller blades while the upper wall of the housing is more distant from the path of the blades.

3. Apparatus of the character described comprising a hopper having an approximately semicylindrical bottom, a screw fitting in said bottom, a cylindrical housing at one side of the hopper at one end of the screw and of larger diameter than the screw, a centrifugal propeller in said housing and a discharge spout from the housing, the side of the hopper at the end of the screw and thereabove being open into the housing, the lower part of the housing lying closely adjacent to the path of the propeller blades, and the upper wall of the housing being spaced above the paths of the propeller blades.

GUY L. RIGOR. 

